General Convention (III): The Mission Imperatives
Episcopal News Service. May 5, 1988 [88086]
John Ratti, Office of Communication, Episcopal Church Center
NEW YORK (DPS, May 5) -- When deputies and observers head for Detroit and the 69th General Convention of the Episcopal Church in July, they will be carrying with them two written resources: a 469-page compendium of reports and resolutions from the committees, commissions, boards, and agencies of Convention called the Blue Book, and a single sheet of paper containing a list of Mission Imperatives, which are offered by Executive Council and the Presiding Bishop as guidelines for the work of the Church in the next Triennium and beyond.
Blue Books have been with the Episcopal Church through many conventions, but the single page of Mission Imperatives represents, at once, something very new and something very old and basic to the Christian faith.
Ideas, needs, and immediate and long-range goals in many specific areas will emerge at Convention, but the clergy and laity convening at Detroit will now have a single sheet of paper against which they can interpret the myriad detail of the Blue Book as it surfaces.
The vision for the future of the Church offered by Executive Council and the Presiding Bishop, the vision of one Church engaged in a single mission, is summed up by the Presiding Bishop in this way: "The vision we are following is not new. And yet each time in history that God has called it forth, it is unique and compelling in its massive power to transform, to change, to supercharge."
It is the power evoked in the Presiding Bishop's statement, the power of the Incarnation itself, that can transform the 469 pages of the Blue Book into the single page of Mission Imperatives.
Coming to a full understanding of the Imperatives will probably make it impossible to look at the work of the Church as one has in the past. There are resolutions in the Blue Book, for example, concerning a new educational mandate for the Church. Yet we also know that the Mission Imperatives call on every person in the Church to be both a leader and an educator, both teacher and learner. When viewed from the perspective of the Imperatives, Christian education begins to look more like evangelism, stewardship and a living gospel. In other words, the glasses provided by the Imperatives allow us to see that by thinking in terms of one Church and a single mission, there is no place for lines to be drawn and distinctions made.
This is not to say that the 69th General Convention of the Episcopal Church will become a mass of confusion with everyone talking simultaneously about anything at all. The careful deliberations that result from resolutions in the Blue Book will allow urgent matters in the lives of Episcopalians to come to light and be examined. At the same time, nothing will be discussed that does not in some way apply to the bedrock issues of the Mission Imperatives.
If the message of the Mission Imperatives is truly understood, it is in the Imperatives that the Church will find the guidelines for its ongoing mission. The Blue Book will again become a valuable reference document, but its 469 pages may seem light by comparison with the magnitude of a single piece of paper.
Inspire others by serving them and leading them to seek, follow, and serve Jesus Christ through membership in his Church.
Develop and promote educational systems and resources which support the ministry of the people of God.
Strengthen and affirm the partnership of the Episcopal Church within the Anglican Communion in proclaiming and serving God's kingdom throughout the world.
Communicate in a compelling way the work of the Church in response to the Gospel.
Strive for justice and peace among all people and respect the dignity of every human being.
Act in faithful stewardship in response to the biblical teaching of the right use of God's creation.
Support individuals and families in their struggle for wholeness by knowing and living the values of the Gospel.
Commit ourselves to the unity of the Church and of all God's people.